New England weather can be…challenging. When Jess contacted me in February about doing a first birthday/family session, it was unseasonably warm. So we were confident that scheduling a March session would be perfect…and then it snowed and/or rained every. single. weekend in March. So we kept rebooking and finally found a date in April that worked. But as luck would have it, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up significantly on the afternoon of the shoot. I had 15 balloons that I was planning to use as part of a mini hot air balloon prop, but the wind blew the balloons into the sea grass and popped them unceremoniously, one by one. Oy. But the Rocks were such troopers and the light that night, combined with the sweet moments I was able to catch, made it all worth it!

But as I started edited the session, I felt bad that poor Miss E didn’t have any special birthday girl shots. It was her first birthday after all! I asked Jess if I could come to their house on a Saturday when they were free, to try and get some birthday shots, and she sweetly agreed. I brought my mini hot air balloon supplies again, and Miss E was NOT having it. I guess I don’t blame her…I doubt she likes being put in her crib, so why would she like being put in a basket? But I couldn’t leave a second time with no birthday shots! As I was kicking around some Plan B options, I saw Miss E getting into her Cozy Coupe and it hit me…baby girl was going to get in the car, with balloons tied to it, and take a birthday joy ride down the street. As you can see from the pictures, she loved driving around and her personality came shining through. Such a sweetie!